HellMasker
by VictoriaxValentine
Summary: Marlene has been kidnapped by three Corel Miners who still hold a grudge against the 'traitor' Barret. When Barret and Cloud can't save Marlene what will Vincent do to resolve the situation and what will he sacrifice to do so? A oneshot and first fanfic.


Thankyou for stumbling upon my very first uploaded fanfiction! I hope you will enjoy it and I can't thankyou enough if you give me a review telling me what you liked and what I need to improve on! A special thanks goes out to my friend Grace who helped me edit my horrible grammer mistakes! Again enjoy!

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_It was a horrible idea_… That was all that Barret could think after Marlene had been kidnapped by a few of Corel's miners. _Did they still hold a grudge against him after what he had done to the village?_ _Cloud and Vincent searched the dirt road and found nothing. How could this happen?_ His daughter…his best friend's daughter…was in danger. Barret ran to every house and neighbor he once knew…nothing. There was no sign of Marlene.

"Dammit…why would they take a little girl.." Cloud yelled in frustration as he threw himself against the side of a house. Vincent stared and looked off across the dirt street. He blinked and listened a few moments. Cloud turned to face Vincent and saw a figure through a window across from them. There.

"Aghhh did you find her?" Barret asked in his loud and frantic voice.

"Wait…I see something over there." Cloud pointed to the window. The three crept closer and saw three armed men…and Marlene.

"THOSE SONUVA--" Barret ran the corner with Cloud yelling behind him to wait. Vincent followed at a slower pace. The three men all dressed in dirty overalls held handguns. A man with prickly facial hair stood up straight on guard. His dirty blonde hair was pulled back with a bandana. He rolled a bullet between his fingers and spat a bit of tobacco. He was the head, the boss of the whole ordeal. The other two men were younger… in their thirties, and each wore a bandana over their mouths like bandits. A thick rope tied Marlene's arms, her mouth was wrapped shut with cloth.

Suddenly the front door of the shack was busted down revealing Barret. The three men jumped up alarmed.

"MARLENE!!" Barret exclaimed. The three men held up their guns. Cloud entered the doorway and grabbed his sword from his back.

"Don't move or the girl dies!" It was the leader. One of the men took the gun and pushed it against Marlene's temple. "Well look at this. If it isn't the man who destroyed this pitiful town!"

"What do you want with Marlene?! She doesn't have anything to do with this!"

"I was thinking of selling her off to one of those trafficking places ya know…make a buck or two."

"YOU--" Barret's eyes raged with fury.

"Did you know that my wife died because of you?...Do you know how many townsmen died because of you, YOU BASTARD!!" Spit jumped from the boss' mouth, his eyes were blazing.

Barret's eyes wandered to the floor. His guilt had welled up again. _That's right…Corel had been destroyed because of him and Dyne._ "I'm sorry..I didn't know that Shinra—"

"Don't apologize!! It wasn't your fault!!" Cloud gripped his sword and shuffled his feet forward.

"You.. put down your weapon!!" The boss signaled for one of his subordinates to load the gun that was attached to Marlene's head. Cloud reluctantly threw his sword to the ground. Tears began to stream down Marlene's face. She was scared…this wasn't something that a mere child should have experienced.

"Please just let Marlene go.." Barret said regretfully.

"Will you give us your head?"

"Yes."

"Very well…I will have all of you killed." He and the other man lifted up their guns. A shot rang in the air. Marlene's muffled scream could be heard….She opened her eyes…her dad was still standing…and so was Cloud. She saw a red and black figure enter the doorway.

"You both need to learn how to sneak up behind an enemy…." Vincent had shot the man holding the gun to Marlene's head. It wasn't a fatal blow.. just one to the man's hand to release the gun.

"You—"!! The boss ran and grabbed Marlene by the hair and pushed his gun into her mouth. "HOW ABOUT THIS?! TAKE ONE STEP CLOSER AND HER BRAIN BLOWS FROM HER SKULL!!"

"MARLENE!!" Barret didn't know what to do…his eyes bulged and his lips quivered… Cloud stood unable to move…_should he risk grabbing Marlene? What if the man really did shoot her…? _

"Hey Cloud…" Vincent didn't move his eyes... Instead he glared at the boss.

"What.." Cloud said staring at Vincent…. His red eyes looked like they had taken a deeper crimson shade…the shade of blood…_Was he mad?_

"Stop me if I get carried away." Vincent lowered his gun and a purple light consumed his body. '_Ah, he's going to transform'_ Cloud thought. The soldier watched Cerberus morph into a larger figure that outlined a chainsaw. Hell masker. The mask that covered his friend's face was white, had small slits as eyes and three lines vertically drawn to breathe. Like his other forms, Vincent's physique could be seen …although his clothes became ripped leather…matching this 'unique' form. His cape wrapped around his neck like a scarf. His hair was wildly pushed back and all that was shown of his face was that hellish mask.

"What the..? He—" An arm flew in the air before the man finished his sentence….his arm…. Marlene's eyes grew. The man started screaming in pain. Marlene fell to the floor and began to squirm away. The boss' subordinates began to shoot at Vincent. The bullets were deflected by the chainsaw. All that was heard was the mechanical rumbling of the blade.

Cloud stared at Vincent…his friend was always calm. When he fought his shots were often flawless and graceful…but this wasn't normal. He recalled Vincent saying that he rather not use this form unless it was necessary. _Was it because of this…? Was it because he would loose control of mercy? _

Barret dived to cover Marlene. The boss grabbed the gun with his other hand and aimed it at Barret and shot. Barret grunted…he had been hit in the back. Vincent swung the chainsaw over his head and crushed the boss's leg. The man screamed and saw a gold boot kick his weapon away. Cloud quickly grabbed the Buster Sword and rammed the other men into the wall knocking them out.

Barret unwrapped the cloth that had bound Marlene's face.

"Are you alright?"

"Papa…!!" Tears welded up in both their eyes.

Barret turned around and saw the crimson cape flapping. Vincent slowly approached the panicking man.

"P-Please…don't kill me…!!" The man had drawn himself against the wall. The stub of his arm oozed with blood and his leg was halfway sawed with flesh hanging out from his pant leg. He could hear the masked man's chuckling. It was a demon…a demon was laughing. Cloud stepped closer, his eyes widened…_He wouldn't kill him right? Vincent wouldn't.._ Cloud thought.

"Please don't kill me…I .. I wouldn't hurt a child… I was only--" The mans line couldn't be finished. Vincent had smashed the chainsaw against the wall a hairs breath away from the man's head.

"Hnnn.. a second ago you were ready to kill the girl weren't you?" He chuckled again and kneeled down to see the man eye to eye. The mask scared the man. It was like looking at death… no.. it was worse…..

"How would you like to die…? You wanna have me cut off all your other limbs first?"

Cloud was disturbed…this was his friend…the one that was always quiet…the one who had always stayed by his side and listened…the loner of the group who was always composed …he wasn't sadistic like this…he didn't enjoy inflicting pain upon others…. no…this wasn't Vincent…it was hell masker…. Then he remembered what Vincent had said.

"Vincent that's enough!" Cloud yelled across the room and hoped that Vincent would revert back…. Instead he pulled the string to the chainsaw and a deafening screech vibrated from the saw. The man screamed as he saw the blade draw closer to his neck. The man behind the mask began to laugh hysterically.

"VINCENT!!" Cloud was horrified...

"VIN-NII!! STOPPPPP!!" Everyone's eyes aimed at Marlene. "Vincent…Vin-nii stop..!!" Barret hugged her closer. The voice struck a nerve…Vincent slowly lowered the chainsaw and felt a sudden rush. Cloud had gone and tackled him to the ground. He quickly ripped off Vincent's mask and smashed it with his fist. Purple light flashed around and revived Vincent to his former self…. his red eyes widened as he realized what he had almost done.

"S-sorry." Cloud got off of his friend and stood up.

"I…" Vincent looked across at the trembling man and then moved his sight to Barret and Marlene who had watched him with fearful eyes. _What had he done?_ _He nearly killed a man in front of the child._ The gunman got up to his feet and darted out the door.

"Vincent!" Cloud reached out his hand, but his friend had already run off.

It was nightfall and Vincent found himself sitting on a cliff that overlooked the small mining town. Stars beamed light down to the ground and created dancing shadows.

"Of all the things…" Vincent cupped his face with his right hand and sighed. "I wonder what she thinks of me now…Hah.. I bet she's scared of me.." Vincent had always liked Marlene…she was sweet and innocent and reminded Vincent of a younger sister. Whatever relationship they had had must have been ruined now. "Weapon…that's right I'm just a weapon after all." He let his head fall back against a tree trunk and stared at the sky. Suddenly rustling could be heard from the backwards bushes. Vincent spun his head around and put his hand on Cerberus.

"Whoa..! Whoa!!" It was Marlene; she held a large cup of hot chocolate, which had spilled slightly. "Oh no… there's a leaf in it!!"

"Marlene..?" Vincent was puzzled.

"Ah, Vin-nii! I brought you coco since it's cold outside…Papa said that you'd get sick if you stayed out here!" Marlene offered the cup to Vincent and smiled.

He looked down at her…_wasn't she scared? Didn't she notice that he was on the verge of killing the man from before? That hellish figure that lived in him didn't inflict any fear in her?!_

"You're not…scared of me?" Vincent asked looking away.

"…Before.. I was scared because Vin-nii didn't seem normal…. but Papa said that you did it to protect us. And the I thought I might not be here if it wasn't for Vin-nii…and I know that Vin-nii is a good person." Her smile beamed and looked as though it could light up in the night. Vincent couldn't help but smile too...well smirk at least.

"Thank you." He kneeled down and took the cup…. indeed there was a leaf in it.

"Do you want to go back to the Inn?"

"..Sure." Vincent saw Marlene grab his hand. He stood up but noticed that he was too tall. Marlene had to stand on her tiptoes to reach his hand now.

"…Um…Do you just want to hop up on my shoulders?" Vincent was a little embarrassed at himself for saying this but his thoughts were interrupted by Marlene's immediate yes. Marlene sprang up and hugged Vincent's neck closely. She had always admired his red cape…it reminded her of a blanket. Before he knew it, Marlene had fallen asleep on his shoulders. Vincent laughed a bit and closed his eyes.

"Ha...now Barret's going to have me babysitting for sure."


End file.
